Ex-Tiger Jack Morris falls short in final year on ballot; Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas voted into Hall of Fame

Jack Morris received 61.5 percent support from the Baseball Writers Association of America, falling 78 votes short of the 75 percent needed for induction.AP File Photo

DETROIT -- Three baseball legends have officially been welcomed into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Former Tigers star Jack Morris isn't one of them.

In his final year on the ballot, Morris was denied entry into baseball's most exclusive club on Wednesday, with voters failing to elect the four-time World Series champion on his 15th appearance.

Only first-ballot nominees Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas were elected to the Class of 2014, as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. They will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27, along with former managers Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa -- elected last month by the expansion committee.

The last time three players in their first year on the ballot were elected was 1999, when Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount were each inducted.

Maddux, who was on 555 of the 571 ballots cast, received 97.2 percent of the vote, the eighth highest total in the history of BBWAA balloting.

With the addition of Maddux, Glavine, Thomas and others to this class, it seemed reasonable that Morris' numbers would likely decrease. And they did.

Morris, 58, received just 61.5 percent of the vote, a 6.2 percent drop from the previous year, to finish sixth in voting and fall 78 votes short of induction. To gain admittance, a player must receive at least 75 percent of the vote.

Morris now joins Gil Hodges as the only players to surpass 50 percent in the vote total and ultimately fail to gain admission via the writers' vote.

Morris, the winningest pitcher in the 1980s, will get another chance to be inducted in three years when he will meet with the expansion committee in 2017. Any candidate who earns votes from 75 percent of the 16-member committee will be elected to the Hall.

Morris' teammate of 14 years with the Tigers, Alan Trammell, also saw a dramatic drop in support. He appeared on just 20.8 percent of the ballots cast in his 13th year on the ballot, down from 33.6 percent in 2013. He has two more years of ballot eligibility.

Craig Biggio, the longtime Astros star who finished with 3,060 hits, narrowly missed induction with 74.8 percent of the vote -- falling just two votes short. Biggio tied Nellie Fox in 1985 and Pie Trayor in 1947 for the smallest margin in balloting history.

Former Tigers Hideo Nomo, Luis Gonzalez, Kenny Rogers and Jacque Jones received a combined 13 votes -- all failing to get the necessary 5 percent support to remain on the ballot next year.

Former Tigers closer Todd Jones and first baseman Sean Casey, both first-ballot nominees, didn't appear on any ballots.